Inner World
by Omicron the IceQueen
Summary: TRADE STORY


Inner world

Big bad 15 trade from DA for Sonadow-rulz

It wasn't all green here like one would expect by looking at the great gem, from the outside that is. The Master Emerald gleamed in the same color of its namesake, with glitters of other shades on the edges in a prism effect. Rotating slowly one way or another at times on its vertical axis where ever the great gem was if aloud to hovered on its own.

But it wasn't all green at all, at least from the inside each panel or facet showed a scene around the world. Changing if the facet was not touched to hold the image, an image that seemed more like a window as the place beyond wasn't like a still picture, but moving. Again, just like looking out a window. Every few minutes all the facets that weren't in contact with him, would ripple and all show a memory of his, like he had just stepped back in time and was aloud to see the scene from so many different angles at once.

Such as what was playing out in front of the guardian right now.

"_Did you know that Angle Island was once a part of the land below my son?_" Lara asked, her voice rich and smooth in this inner world. It froze Knuckles up, one of his upraised fists stopped in mid-motion of another attempt to drive his deadly bone claws into the emerald's wall again. All that was needed was a single crack for him to regain freedom.

Amethyst eyes widened again, becoming larger in a way that they haven't done in a long time several years in truth. Turning his head slowly Knuckles focused on one of the fascists to see his long since passed away mother. Yet there on the other side of that window of chaos energy... there she was. Sitting posed in that way of tranquil serenity that Knuckles remembered when his mother had let him stay up late at night and explain the more interesting things of history, of the stories behind the visible consolations.

"_It was?_" Knuckles' own voice, far younger and lighter then it was now, and lacking that growling and gravely edge to the tone. The echidna could see his younger childish self sitting in Lara's lap, holding onto one of her spines as well as her dress. The young face awe struck and a little disbelieving as the boy looked up.

"_Of course! Can you guess who live here-there, before the echidna race?_"

"_...birds?_"

Lara snorted and laughed softly, "_Well yes, but that's not was I meant._"

The boy Knuckles scrunched up his face in thought, "_Not the Komodos... you said they live in island filled zones. Sea Zones..._"

The paler red female dropped her voice dramatically, lifting her knees and tickle attacking her son's sides, "_It was **dragons!**_" She grinned in the dark as the boy screamed from the dramatics and the word.

"_Really?_"

Knuckles, of the here and now, shifted and hadn't realized he was about to lift his anchoring hand until he felt light pressure over it. It was a slender, more famine hand over his larger one. Yet when the Guardian's gaze snapped back there was no one there; only beyond his hand where Sonic still was, if pacing and rattling his quills in a mixer of irritation and worry. From the light it looked like several hours had passed in the outside world.

That hyper, attention-span-of-a-nat blue spiky annoyance who was addicted to adrenaline and touch... Sonic was all those things, and more. But above all, he was _loyal_: staying with the unprotected Master Emerald until Knuckles returned, though not knowing just how close they really were.

The Guardian could and did appreciate this as he shifted his stance, half lidding his eyes and taking a deep, slow breath. Knuckles had to focus, one good hit, one crack and he was out of this place.

Knuckles could still _feel_ that other presents in here with him though there was no other physical form that he could see. That didn't seem to bother the echidna anthro much for some reason, not really, and he could sense no native energies or feelings from whatever it was. Maybe it was a ghost, a phantom, or an imprint left in or on the Master Emerald, though one he didn't know.

Closing his eyes, Knuckles extend his senses of body, mind and that other way, that came from the gut and heart to feel Chaos. And there was all three kinds of Chaos energy abundant all around, positive, negative and neutral all swirling around him and this other like mist and fog. That other person-ghost beside Knuckles though seemed more solid now.

It felt female in aurora and 'form,' and without his eyes open to confuse his other senses, Knuckles took a moment not only to center himself, but to asses this other. It took a little bit because the other facets of the Master Emerald kept shifting scenes and sounds. But the Guardian pushed past it, blocking nearly everything out that was distracting.

Her hand was still pressed over his larger one, her palm almost fit in between his bone spars, her wrist at least were as they were arm to arm. Her other hand clasped the male echidna's shoulder, moving his spines as she stood against Knuckles' body. There was, ever so faintly, the scent of daises and apples as this other seemed to be looking at him. Knuckles could feel soft fingers touch his elongated spines, most all pulled back and tied to be out of his way in his daily before the pretty much random and very strange Chaos Control that had Knuckles _inside_ the Master Emerald in the first place.

A low, neutral growl rumbled out of Knuckles' chest, and he was aware of the other smiling as he lifted his left arm again. She moved as he did, laying a feather light kiss on the side of the Guardian's face when he lean forward and drove fist and bone claws into the panel that still showed his time and home.

C_rack!_

Blue ears snapped up and rotated like mini radar dishes as the owner leapt to his feet. No longer dosing, Sonic spun on one heel, keeping one of his ear aimed at where the sound was as he faced the Master emerald. "What the- Red!" He moved the ten feet over to the sprawled echidna on the temple's stone floor fast enough that a blurred after image didn't havce time to form.

Kneeling down, the runner clasped Knuckles' shoulder as he pulled the strangely tangled spines out of the way. Sonic winced a little as he saw how the other male had landed muzzle first into the floor. If it wasn't broken in some way, even with the anthro given density, would be a minor miracle.

"Red? ...Knuckles?" Sonic's brows dipped and then crumpled together in worried as he still didn't get an answer. Shifting around the blue furred hedgehog grunted as he pushed at the biger echidna, rolling Knuckles onto his back and taking a better look. "Where did you get a chaos burn...?" He muttered, looking at the bare hands, finding the right indeed burn in that cretin way that ment negative chaos energy.

Knuckles stirred at last, gargled and squinted up into the stars of the night sky, seen only because this temple had no roof. The stars were blocked out partly and replaced with clear emerald eyes.

"...Ow." Knuckles muttered, the memory of his short, and bizarre 'adventure' was fading, but he felt oddly grateful for the blue runner's presence. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling of someone else that should be beside him... the echidna _harrumphed_ as Sonic tried to get him not to pass out again.

But for now, Knuckles had a hang over and a sore hand. And tangled spines... he didn't want to stay awake. When he did wake up it was two days later and Sonic was sitting on his back.


End file.
